Sunset stroll along Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula

It’s late April and Michigan is in dire straits. The governor has appealed to Washington for federal assistance. No, I’m not referring to Jennifer Granholm begging for bailout bucks when she was Gov in 2009.

Michigan’s Boy Governor, Stevens T. Mason

I’m talking about the year 1835 and the Michigan territorial governor, 24-year old Stevens T. Mason, who was about to do battle with Ohio over a disputed survey line.

There were confrontations but little blood shed in what is referred to as The Toledo War.

Never mind that in 1835 there was no Toledo (the city was chartered in 1837) and it was more of a fracas than a war.

Ohio was declared the winner when Stevens eventually gave up a 468-square mile area at the southern border of the Michigan Territory known as the “Toledo Strip,” including the valuable mouth of the Maumee River.

Toledo skyline at dusk

In exchange Michigan attained statehood and most of what is now the Upper Peninsula. The “Boy Governor” Mason was duly elected to lead Michigan when it became a state on January 26, 1837 (click here for more).

The five-mile Mackinac Bridge connects Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas

The Toledo Strip was hot property worth fighting for because it was going to serve as a shipping center and route for canals that would connect Lake Erie and rivers in Ohio with the Mississippi River.

The wild Upper Peninsula didn’t look like much of a prize 190 years ago. Then the railroad derailed the canals and the U.P., rich with minerals and natural wonders, proved to be a great consolation prize.

Just for fun, let’s compare a sampling of assets in Toledo and the U.P.:

Toledo: Lake Erie
U.P.: Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan

Toledo: Tony Packo’s Hot Dogs
U.P.: Toni’s Pasties, in Laurium

Toledo: Bridges over the Maumee River
U.P.: Mackinac Bridge over two Great Lakes, the International Bridge to Canada at Sault Ste. Marie, plus the Cut River Bridge and the Houghton-Hancock Portage Lift Bridge

Kitch-iti-kipi, The Big Spring, near Manistique in the U.P.

Toledo: Home of Toledo Spring vehicle parts and service since 1932
U.P.: Home of the crystal clear, 40-foot deep Big Spring, Kitch-iti-kipi

Toledo: Hometown of uber cool singer Anita Baker*see fun facts below
U.P.: Home of uber crass singing group Da Yoopers

Toledo: Eat at the Beastro (see what they did there) at the zoo
U.P.: Eat at The Antlers in the Soo

Toledo: 60-acre Toledo Botanical Garden
U.P.: Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests (almost two million acres combined)

Toledo: Glass collection at the Toledo Museum of Art
U.P.: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, sculpted and painted by Mother Nature

Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island

Toledo: Fort Meigs
U.P.: Fort Wilkins, Fort Holmes and Fort Mackinac

Toledo: The freighter SS Col. James Schoonmaker, now a museum ship
U.P.: Boat rides alongside freighters through the Soo Locks

Toledo: Actors Jamie Farr (M*A*S*H), Katie Holmes (Dawson’s Creek and supporting role in the Tom Cruise drama), journalist and feminist Gloria Steinem
U.P.: Athletes Tom Izzo of Iron Mountain (Michigan State University basketball coach), George “The Gipper” Gipp of Laurium (University of Notre Dame football); Crystal Hayes, model, actress and former Miss Michigan, of Rock

Jeep Wranglers are built in Toledo

Toledo: Where they build Jeep Wranglers
U.P.: Where they drive Jeep Wranglers

Toledo: “Holy Toledo!” (and that’s borrowed from Toledo, Spain)
U.P.: “Holy Wah!” “Say yah to da UP, eh?”

Both worthy destinations in their own ways, but we in Michigan are glad we gave up the Toledo strip for the U.P. You betcha.

The U.P. has places to drive Jeep Wranglers

For more about the state, check out the Michigan History Museum in Lansing.

Visitor Info Clicks:
Upper Peninsula
Toledo, Ohio
Pure Michigan
Lansing

*ANITA BAKER FUN FACTS: Anita shares her birthday with Michigan: she was born in Toledo on January 26, 1958. From the age of two, she grew up in Detroit and still lives in the Detroit area.

All stories and photos copyright Kath Usitalo unless otherwise noted